Colour. As Colour. Feb 2025
I’ve begun reading about contemplative photography. And during my research I’ve come across at least two schools of thought based on spiritual tradition. In Christianity, there’s the practice of Visio Divina (sacred divine) based on the earlier contemplative practice of Lectio Divina (sacred texts). Christine Valters Paintner talks about this in her book The Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice. On the other hand, there’s Miksang photography based on Buddhist traditions. John McQuade and Miriam Hall write about this in Looking and Seeing. They also offer courses in the Miksang photography.
This image is part of a Level 1 assignment of Miksang called Colour as colour. The idea is to see before knowledge can cloud perception. So colour, before the “thing” that has colour.
Both schools resonate with me since I was born into a Catholic family and did delve deep into Christian teachings before turning to Buddhism and Zen in particular. My plan is to be open to what I learn and perhaps find the bridge between East and West.